Love is in the plan for party guru

By Emily Spicer :
October 3, 2013
: Updated: October 3, 2013 7:58am

Steven and Mary Bull stand in the dining room of their Alamo Heights home on Sept. 20, 2013.

Photo By Courtesy photos

The Great Wall of China was the theme for Steven and Mary Bull's New Year's Eve 2008 party.

Another New Year's Eve party had a theme of Moulin Rouge.

Décor and table settings from a Titanic-themed party.

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Steven Bull's party rules

Make sure everyone is responsible for something. It gives your guests a sense of ownership of the event, and also ensures you as the host have company in the kitchen while you prep.

Use your good stuff. The full set of antique china, the silver and always, always use cloth napkins.

Make it fun.

Think about who you are inviting and make sure they do or will get along.

Steven Bull and his wife, Mary, live their life by a simple philosophy: Laugh a lot and give a party once a month.

For the social couple, sometimes the hardest part is narrowing down the guest list. “We entertain friends, church friends and theater friends,” Steven said.

Steven, the general manager at Ethan Allen Design Center and an in-demand theater actor, made sure that the North Central home he shares with Mary, the senior account manager at BMP Radio, is perfect for entertaining.

It has an easy flow from one room to another and seating areas galore. And tucked into every imaginable nook and cranny (even in the drawer of the pedestal under the dryer) are their trophies and treasures: 13 sets of china, various sets of silverware, crystal stemware in all shapes and sizes, salt and pepper shakers and cellars from around the world — you name it, they have three.

“And we use it all,” he said.

You would, too, if you entertained as often or as lavishly as they do. Steven said their events go from small dinner parties to shindigs “with a cast of thousands.”

“But what I love about having dinner parties is using the stuff,” he said — nothing is too fragile or old to come out of a display case and grace a table.

Perhaps his most well-known soirées are the progressive New Year's Eve dinners he started some 27 years ago. The parties are now a sit-down dinner for 35 — “Black tie and ball gowns only,” he said — that start with drinks and appetizers at one house; salads and soups at another; main course at the Bulls, as they have the largest house; and perhaps dessert at another home.

The parties always have a grand theme — the Titanic, Moulin Rouge and The Great Wall of China are recent examples — and hosts vie to outdo each other on dramatic, over-the-top décor and place settings. Who comes up with the themes? “Me,” Steven said. “I'm the theme master.”

With so many parties and guests, Steven keeps a notebook logging each party and what was served, notes about how the food was received, what table setting was used, who attended and an overall rating of how it went. This way, he never serves the same food on the same plates to the same guests.

For Steven, such events and attention to detail are just part of who he is and how he grew up. His father was a Flying Tiger, part of the second group of American pilots recruited to bolster the ranks of the Chinese Air Force in World War II, and later worked in intelligence in the diplomatic corps. When his mother and father were sent to the embassy in Baghdad in the early 1950s, before he was born, Steven says, his mother was provided with a list that included the number of ball gowns she should bring and how many furs, and instructions to bring enough china to serve 36.

When Steven was a boy, his father often came home from work with high-ranking guests, so his mother, a gourmet cook, was always on guard and ready to make unexpected and extra guests feel at home. He learned his party skills at home.

His love of making great food was cemented when his family moved to San Antonio and lived next door to married pianists who adored cooking. Steven spent much of his free time in the couple's home, learning to appreciate good food and good music — lessons that came in handy for his many turns in musical theater.

Over the years, Steven and Mary have gotten help in boosting their collections by inheriting family sets and gathering pieces through their travels, estate sales and gifts. Now there are so many that possible combinations for table settings and décor are almost limitless — just how Steven likes it.

“I love the planning the most. Planning the theme, if there is one, planning the guest list, planning the menu. And I love to set the table — love, love, love,” Bull said.

Not that it's a letdown when the event actually happens, he said, but “the real rush for me is putting it together.”

What do you love most about entertaining, and what are some of your favorite parties? Email me the details, and be sure to include pictures!